Bella holds off Lyre by a head

TAB Classic (Group 1)

SHARP from gate 11 in the Group 1 TAB Classic, the Will Clarken-trained Bella Vella’s clean pair of heels denied her 15 rivals as she prevailed having led all the way at Morphettville last Saturday.

The 1,200-metre sprint would have been a one-act affair had the 2019 Blue Diamond Stakes winner Lyre not sprung wings in the closing stages to just miss out on a last stride victory. The Godolphin-bred Lonhro filly went down by a head to the Commands mare Bella Vella, the pair a comfortable two lengths clear of the Universal Ruler mare Bam’s On Fire.

The win provided a first Group 1 success to the Morphetville-based 31-year-old Will Clarken, who began his career apprenticed to his cousin Daniel Clarken.

Fifty-odd winners later as weight got the better of him, Clarken took out a trainer’s licence, training his first blacktype winner in 2012 when his Royal Academy filly Molto Bene won the Group 3 South Australian Sires’ Produce Stakes.

“My really good mates, Lachie Weekley, John Kelton and Pat Kelton have got shares in her, they’ve been with me from the start, when I had five horses in work, and now I’ve got about 55,” said Clarken. “She wore my Dad’s colours, he was a passionate racing person and no longer with us, but it’s very, very special. Group 1s are so hard to get.

“Today she got left alone in front, she’s been in super form and thankfully it went it our way.”

Clarken and his syndicate bought the mare for A$22,500 from Inglis’ 2019 April Online Auction, becoming the Inglis digital platform’s maiden Group 1 winner.

Toffee Tongue licks them in Oaks

Schweppes Oaks (Group 1)

SATURDAY’S Group 1 Australasian Oaks over 2,000 metres at Morphettville vindicated the decision by 24-year-old Damien Thornton to self-isolate for 14 days in order to cross from Victoria into South Australia to tackle Adelaide’s May carnival.

Landing the ride on Toffee Tongue for Chris Waller, Thornton was positive from the gates aboard the $5 favourite whose lead-in form consisted of seconds in the Group 1 Australian Oaks and Group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes at Randwick.

Sitting mid-field on the rail, Thornton profited from his rivals eagerness for ground off the rail as the field approached the final bend, opening the way for Toffee Tongue to slip through and make her charge for the line.

Benefiting from the most economical ride in the race, the Tavistock filly won with almost a length to spare as the flyers came late, as Moonlight Maid by the Irish-bred Puissance De Lune grabbed second ahead of Johnny Allen’s mount, Affair To Remember, a daughter of the Irish-bred Toronado.

“I feel pretty happy about it now,” said Thornton on his decision to forego 14 days of riding to compete in Adelaide. “The second week it did start to get a bit boring. But I knew what was at the end and it was what I had to look forward to.”

Out of the New Zealand Broodmare of the Year, Bagalollies (by Zabeel), Toffee Tongue is a sister to the Hong Kong Horse of the Year Werther. The win, her first in nine career starts, justifies her purchase price of NZ$500,000 by Dean Hawthorne for Jonathon Munz at the 2018 New Zealand Bloodstock Premier Yearling Sale.

NEW Zealand Bloodstock has announced that they will hold a quality weanling sale in place of the cancelled Karaka May Sale.

The auction will launch on June 11th with bidding running until 5pm on Sunday, June 21st.

With the sale running under NZB terms and conditions, all weanlings offered at the sale will be eligible for the Karaka Million Series.

Dubliner Sherry in terrific winning form

OPPORTUNITIES are on the rise for Thomas Sherry who chalked up his 75th winner in Australia at Newcastle on Saturday capping a terrific three days that saw the Smithfield-born Dubliner post five winners.

Making good use of his claim, Sherry rode winners for John Thompson and his boss Mark Newnham at Wyong, Mark Minervini and Richard Litt at Muswellbrook, and Gary Portelli at Newcastle.

Sherry now leads the Provincial Jockeys’ Premiership in New South Wales with 40 winners, four ahead of his nearest rival Keagan Latham.